Under a sub-headline “Warning signs [of global warming] today,” the National Resources Defense Council says:

In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1500 deaths in India.More than 250 people died as a result of an intense heat wave that gripped most of the eastern two-thirds of the United States in 1999…

Writing in the American Spectator Wednesday, Dr. Patrick Michaels observes that heat-related deaths are declining significantly.Pat Michaels, I caution to note, explains that the number of heat deaths is not directly correlated to global temperature, but I couldn’t help wondering how the fine folks at the NRDC would view this data.

Since NRDC believes a high number of heat deaths is a global warming “warning sign,” will it now argue that a reduced number of heat deaths is a sign of global cooling?